The Citizen, 2015-01-29, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015.
Councillors look for ‘made in Huron’ solution
Special rules
As part of North Woods Elementary School’s winter fun day
on Jan. 23, students played a new take on soccer including
giant rubber balls with handles. The balls could be kicked or
carried, depending on the age of the player. Shown
throwing the ball is Katie Roberts. (Denny Scott photo)
Fund
debate
returns
Continued from page 1
is looking for an annual contribution
of $135,711 (over half of which is
refundable). The annual
contribution, Hogan said, would
result in $14 million for Huron
County when leveraged and $227
million for the region.
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh
Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek said he
was concerned that the five local
telecommunications companies,
which have served the community
for over 100 years, would be overrun
by the initiative and the introduction
of “the big boys” in terms of internet
providers to the area.
Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn
suggested that if Huron County were
to contribute, for example, five per
cent of the SWIFT municipal pot,
then five per cent of the work should
be done in Huron County. Hogan
said that could be an idea that the
SWIFT board could certainly look
into further.
The previous week, general
managers from local
telecomunications companies spoke
to council regarding ongoing
concerns with the SWIFT initiative.
The concerns are not new,
Tuckersmith Communications
General Manager Rob Van Aaken
told councillors at their Jan. 14
committee of the whole meeting, but
in the year since the assembled
Huron County telecommunications
companies first spoke to council
about the issue, Van Aaken said,
nothing has changed and their
concerns remain.
Van Aaken told council that Huron
County’s independent providers –
HuronTel, Hay Communications,
Tuckersmith Communications,
Wightman Telecom and Quadro
Communications – have been
working for years on building a fibre
optic foundation and moving
towards “the last mile” so that every
home in Huron County, both urban
and rural would have access to the
highest quality of internet.
He said the companies,
collectively, have served the county
for over 100 years. They have
employed locally and they have
invested locally and the SWIFT
project, a joint venture between the
Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus
(WOWC) and the Southwest
Economic Alliance (SWEA), aims to
use the companies’ existing
infrastructure and bury them, he
said. Not only that, he said, but the
SWIFT initiative cares not for
reaching the last mile with its
service, but rather connecting urban
areas and providing service that
would only help big businesses.
In recent years, Van Aaken said,
local companies have invested over
$50 million in broadband
infrastructure throughout Huron
County, which has resulted in over
50 per cent of the Huron County
population having access to an ultra-
broadband connection.
Van Aaken told council that the
solution needs to be created in
Huron County and perhaps then
partners from neighbouring counties
can be brought in. He proposed a
funding model that would be split
down the middle between the county
and the local telecommunications
companies.
Several councillors voiced their
support for the local companies,
saying they have served the county
well over the years and there’s no
reason to undermine them now.
Continued from page 1
the time and there’s no reason to
revisit a decision arrived at after a
thoughtful process.
Council accepted Melady’s
presentation and asked no questions
of her.
In an interview after the meeting,
Huron East Mayor Bernie
MacLellan stated that no timeline
has been set for the discussion
pertaining to revisiting the fund. He
says that whenever council wants to
have that discussion, he would
encourage it, but it still remains to
be seen if St. Columban Wind
Energy would even offer the fund
again if council were to return over
one year after rejecting it.
Letter to the Editor
Vodden reiterates positives
THE EDITOR,
I must respond to Denny Scott’s
comments in the Jan. 22 issue of The
Citizen.
First, I want to reiterate the facts
that I presented in the recent council
meeting:
FACT: North Huron and Morris-
Turnberry have a longstanding
agreement by which M-T makes an
annual contribution in support of
their citizens’ usage of North Huron
recreation facilities. We recently did
a joint review of the usage rates and
the contribution involved. Both
parties agreed that the arrangement
remains appropriate and will be
continued. Various Morris-
Turnberry councillors have
expressed opinions that they might
break the agreement in retribution
for other controversial relations. Of
course we are aware of these, but
only council as a body can actually
make such a decision.
FACT: North Huron and Morris-
Turnberry have a multifaceted suite
of agreements in the fire service
area. The first agreement took a long
time to conclude, but both councils
ended up pleased with the result.
Since then we have added other
agreements related to staff sharing,
accommodation sharing, computer
systems sharing and servicing
agreements. These agreements are
working well to the mutual benefit
of the two municipalities.
FACT: Morris-Turnberry, North
Huron and Huron County have a
unique kind of agreement to
promote economic/industrial
development, by preparing
properties to be “shovel-ready” by
doing in advance the investigative
surveys and studies. This will allow
a prospective developer to avoid a
year or more of investigation and to
commence operations as quickly as
possible in either municipality.
Those are the facts that I
presented. They are real, effective,
working agreements. The opinion
attached to those facts is that these
two municipalities are not totally at
odds. We are not frozen in time by
prejudice, memories of ancient
feuds, focus on the past, etc..
I did not mention the area where a
deep division exists, arrangements
for cross-border services, at least
between the previous councils. I
don’t want to be accused of trying to
re-open negotiations in the press. I
made no suggestion that relations
are perfect between us. I simply
pointed out that we have productive,
civil and cordial relations and we all
hope that any differences we have
will be resolved in time. But I will
mention that the issue here is based
on a sharp division of understanding
of what is right and what is fair with
respect to the provision of cross-
border utility services. North Huron
has staked its position in the form of
a clear and specific policy. That is
another fact, not an opinion. It is up
to our neighbours to respond.
Scott’s article gives too much
weight to off-the-cuff comments by
members of councils. Every council
has members with a range of ideas,
opinions and attitudes. North Huron
Council is no different. Policies and
decisions are made only by full
council.
Brock Vodden
North Huron Councillor
Looking for local heroes
There are so many people out there who do
so much to improve their community.
Now you have a chance to say thanks.
Nominate that special person for the 30th
Annual Citizen Citizenship Awards.
Each year a committee chooses an outstanding citizen from each of the Blyth and area
and Brussels and area communities to receive an award for contribution to the
community. If you know someone you think should be honoured, please fill in the ballot
and send it in. You may attach a longer explanation of why you think your nominee
should win, if you like. If you have nominated someone before and he or she didn't win,
please feel free to try again.
I nominate
as Citizen of the year for
I feel she/he deserves this award because
Nomination Deadline April 30, 2015.
Name and phone number of nominator
❑Blyth
& area ❑Brussels
& area